Ichamara is one of five "factories" that form the Gikaru Farmers Cooperative Society. A factory is a wet mill in Kenya that serves a particular micro-region. Gikaru is interesting in that it is located farther to the south than where most of our Kenya coffees from Nyeri district originate. The cooperative offices are in Mukurwe-ini and Ichamara a bit north and east of there. It is not far from Ngunguru, where we used to get great lots as well. This was one of my absolute favorite Kenya lots of the season, and I admit that we sat on it a while to save it for the holidays. Vacuum packing allows us to do this while maintaining the freshness of the green coffee.

This coffee is abundantly sweet, bright, and complex. The dry fragrance has cane sugar, raw honey, vanilla, and lavender floral elements. Their is a hint of buttermilk cream in the wet aromatic, along with caramel-vanilla, peach blossom and wildflowers. The cup is very lively with bright acidity, with a delicate sweetness, fruited and very floral. Peach blossom, found in the aromatics, is a dominant theme in the cup which matches fruits and floral flavors. Lemon and apricot also come through, and rose-like floral hints are present as well. A very refined sweetness balances out the brightness; a clean white sugar sweetness without any rustic suggestions. This coffee rates exceptionally well in all categories, with a crystal clear clean and sweet cup, bright, and bold as well. My roasts hovered around City+ level since I wanted to emphasize the clean and bright notes in the cup. Of course you can tone down the cup with a little more roast, but why? Brightness is what this coffee is all about. Keep it light, I say.